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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2019)
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 17 Allergy levels are high, but pine pollen is not to blame By T. Lee Brown Correspondent A fine mist of dust, elec- tric-yellow, descends upon Sisters Country this time of year. It lands on decks, cars, and roads. It shudders onto the forest floor and sifts into people9s hair. It9s ponderosa pine pol- len, the trees9 way of saying, <Hey, baby, let9s make sap- lings together.= The pollen bursts from the prominent male pollen cones to be seen on branch tips this time of year. It9s dispersed at random by the wind. Each grain con- tains air sacs to help it remain airborne. If it makes its way to a female cone, it can fertil- ize an egg. A look at pollen.com9s National Allergy Map this week showed most of the United States at low to medium allergy levels, illus- trated in pleasant shades of green, yellow, and light orange. One menacing red blob stood out: a high allergy alert oozing from the central Oregon Coast through the Willamette Valley 4 and all the way to Central Oregon. In the 97759 ZIP code, the forecast called for more days of red-zone high aller- gen counts coming up. Some pollens may be local. Others blow in on the wind. The main culprits? Grasses, oak, and walnut. Pine wasn9t even mentioned. In fact, here9s a shocker: <Allergenicity: No allergy has been reported for Ponderosa Pine (Pinus pon- derosa) species.= That9s the news from PollenLibrary. com, a storehouse of infor- mation provided by IMS Health, the company that develops the allergy forecasts on pollen.com and manufac- turers a tool for measuring pollen count. So why do so many peo- ple think they9re allergic to pondo pollen? It can cause some simple irritation, just like any powder a person might inhale. Mainly, though, it grabs our attention because it9s plentiful and colorful. Its spores, or grains, are much larger than most other local pollens. We see it in drifts, and we assume it9s setting off our sneezing and itching. Many allergy experts believe that the spore9s large size actually prevents it from causing allergic reactions. Allergy and asthma specialist Dr. Adam Williams of Bend Memorial Clinic explained, <Smaller spores are more likely to be inhaled deeper, and are more likely to come in contact with the immune system.= Juniper and grasses are common causes of Central Oregon hay fever this time of year. Airborne molds cause allergies, too. Housing developers, gar- deners, and landscapers con- tribute to the seasonal allergy load by planting non-native trees and shrubs. These plant- ings can make a patch of rug- ged high desert look oddly similar to a suburb in Ohio or a neighborhood in Portland. Those who wish to re-cre- ate the Midwest or Willamette Valley here should take warning: these plantings can slurp large amounts of water, which is becoming a more scarce resource in the region. Various species also release allergenic pollens that drift in the air for miles and miles. Many folks move to des- ert climates for health rea- sons4respiratory and allergy included. The introduction of certain street trees and orna- mentals can make a place uninhabitable for them. PHOTO BY TL BROWN Ponderosa pine pollen swirls around the asphalt following a thunderstorm. Arizona provides a sad example. The state attracts people looking for healthy air and a warm place to retire. Olive trees, however, were imported in the 1930s. These became hugely popular before people realized that their pollen stirs up serious allergies in a large percentage of the population. In cities like Phoenix and Tucson, nurseries and land- scape companies were no longer allowed to sell or plant olives as of the 1960s. They worked around the rules by planting species and cultivars that supposedly produced less pollen; allergywise.com describes how this ruse did not work out. Olive trees are still <one of Arizona9s most notorious contributors to our seasonal allergy misery.= See POLLEN on page 35 Tasty THURSDAY Sawtooth Winery | 5 to 7 p.m. SUNDAY BRUNCH! 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. p 391 W. Cascade Ave. | 541-549-2675 corkcellarswinebistro.com